Feedback Control of Antagonistic-Type Twisted and Coiled Polymer Actuator

Abstract

A novel artificial muscle actuator called as twisted and coiled polymer actuator can be easily fabricated by commercially available Nylon fibers. It can be thermally activated and has remarkable properties such as large deformation and flexibility. If conductive Nylon fibers are applied to the actuator, it can be electrically activated by Joule heating. However, asymmetric response characteristics due to a speed difference of heating-cooling remain a problem. In case of actuation in the air, the cooling speed depends on the external temperature, and is slower than heating speed. To solve these problems, we apply an antagonistic structure. The validity of the applied method was investigated through numerical simulations and experiments.